New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday arrested two people, including a Punjab National Bank (PNB) employee, in connection with an alleged Rs 10.24 crore fraud at the bank’s Greater Noida branch. The employee, identified as Deepanshi, worked as an Office Assistant/Sub Staff and was named in a complaint filed by the bank. She is the first bank employee to be arrested in the case.
The arrests come days after several customers, primarily farmers who had sold their land for the construction of Jewar Airport, alleged that their savings accounts and fixed deposits at the branch had been emptied.
As ThePrint reported, many of the affected farmers had invested their life savings in the bank, with plans to build houses and fund their children’s marriages. The alleged fraud has left residents of Birondi village in Greater Noida, where most of the affected farmers live, grappling with uncertainty.
The CBI registered a case on 29 October based on a complaint filed by the bank. According to the complaint, unauthorised debit transactions amounting to Rs 10.24 crore were carried out from several customer accounts by Deepanshi, allegedly in connivance with a private individual and other unknown persons. She is accused of misusing the login credentials of bank officials, disabling transaction alerts and siphoning off customers’ savings and fixed deposits.
The complaint was filed by Ajay Kumar Pandey, the bank’s authorised representative and Chief Manager, on the basis of bank records. It also named account holders Ashutosh Pathak, Pradeep Kumar, Membanti Devi, Priyanka Kumari, Shanti Devi, Shalini and Saroj Devi, along with unknown persons and public servants. The accused were booked under relevant BNS provisions for alleged criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery and falsification of accounts.
The CBI case followed an FIR registered by the Gautam Buddha Nagar police against unidentified PNB employees after several farmers reported that their savings accounts and fixed deposits had been emptied.
The CBI said the transit remand for the accused private individual was taken from the Special CBI Court in Pune. Further investigation is ongoing, the agency added.
(Edited by Chingkheinganbi Mayengbam)
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